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When speakers almost sound like the instruments

My speakers,(Mirage OMD28) have been a struggle for the pass couple years, with small not very dense images, less sonic weight/bass than expected, lacking transparency, not the requisite extension top to bottom. But, the addition of a few other pieces finally brought image density, size and sonic weight to the presentation, much closer to reality. For me, this is when your system has arrived. The speakers bring Jazz to life. It took a conditioner,(SR Powercell mkII), and an excellent preamp,(Joule Electra LA150 mkll) to get my system there. Amazing how the same speakers you've had for a while, and struggled with (2 years) can be transformed from underwhelming and disappointing to very good.

Have you had speakers that you struggled with for a while and almost gave up on, almost sold, that you transformed from disappointing to all you expected?
foster_9
schubert
4,867 posts
 
Rather listen to a good amp thru so-so speakers than vice-versa.
Of coutse rather listen to Lamm monoblocks thru Magico 5's.
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
Time, experience along with lots of trial and error along the way.....the path of many an audiophile over the years.
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
Most amps and most speakers are "good".

I think the same is true these days about many a digital source as well.

Only certain combos done right can make magic for an individual though. That's the key.

Vinyl is still tougher to master IMHO. I think that is part of its appeal for many.
chayro
1,801 posts
 
I was shocked when I first heard the difference an excellent preamp can make in a system. I was convinced that I needed a better amplifier, but the dealer proved to me that that attributes I was looking for - transparency, solidity, harmonics, could be better achieved by replacing the preamp.
bondmanp
1,465 posts
 
Glad you're getting the performance that your Mirages are capable of. I made numerous system upgrades to get the most out of my previous speakers, Vandersteen 1Cs. I did eventually begin to feel that I had taken them as far as they could go, and ended up upgrading to Ohm Walsh 2000s a couple of years ago. Although I liked the speakers from the get-go, I felt that improvements in electronics, cables and room acoustics were in order. It's all a matter of identifying the bottleneck in your system and addressing it. Of course, once addressed, there is bound to be a different bottleneck elsewhere in the signal chain! But after upgrading my preamp, source gear, room treatments and cabling, my speakers are putting out considerably better sound than when I bought them. As finances allow, I will continue to make improvements, major and minor.
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